Department for Transport

M23: Repairs and Maintenance

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the planned completion date is of the M23 construction works.

George Freeman: The Secretary of State confirmed at Transport Parliamentary Questions on 30 January that all stretches of Smart Motorway that are currently being worked on will not be opened until we have the outcome of the stocktake.

M23: Safety

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will undertake a review of the effect on the safety of the hard-shoulder of the M23 smart-motorway works.

George Freeman: The Secretary of State for Transport heard the concerns about smart motorways and asked the Department to carry out, at pace, an evidence stocktake to gather the facts quickly and make recommendations. While I would not want to pre-judge the results of that work, what I can say is that we will continue to prioritise improving safety – making conditions safer for everyone on our roads.

Passenger Ships: River Thames

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he last met with operators of older passenger boats on the River Thames to discuss the proposals made by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on the use of those boats.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) last met with London Operators on 24 October 2019, which was the most recent occurrence of the routine biannual London Operator’s meeting. The MCA has also held 5 Workshops on the proposals since 2016, supplemented by updates and discussions at the regular Domestic Passenger Ship Steering Group which includes industry representation from across the UK.

Passenger Ships: River Thames

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Transport for London on the potential effect of proposals made by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on established river boat services between Kew and Richmond.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Two public consultations were carried out on the proposals. The first between 6 November 2018 and 29 January 2019 and the second between 29 May and 10 July 2019.The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) Chief Executive and an MCA Director met with members of the London Assembly on 16 July 2019 to discuss the proposals.

Rolling Stock: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether reform of rolling stock procurement was a recommendation of the Williams Rail Review.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Williams Rail Review is tasked with bringing forward recommendations for root and branch change in the rail industry. Keith Williams, its independent chair, and his team are looking closely across the sector to it works in the best interests of passengers and taxpayers. He has not been asked to develop specific recommendations on rolling stock manufacturing or procurement. A White Paper based on his recommendations will be published soon.

Electric Scooters

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on its assessment of the safety of e-scooters; and what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate the use of those vehicles on (a) roads and (b) pavements.

George Freeman: We are considering this closely and recognise that people want to take advantage of the opportunities personal vehicles, such as electric scooters can offer. The Department for Transport is committed to encouraging innovation in transport as well as improving road safety, but new modes of transport must be safe and secure by design. The Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy, published on 19 March 2019 includes a Regulatory Review to address the challenges of ensuring our transport infrastructure and regulation are fit for the future. The Department will use the Regulatory Review to examine current legislation and determine from the evidence what is needed to make the necessary changes for a safe and healthy future. One strand of this will look at options for enabling micromobility devices, and a consultation will be issued in due course. No timetable for the introduction of legislation for micromobility has been set as this is dependent on the outcomes of the consultation.

Speed Limits

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of making 20mph the default speed limit on urban and restricted roads.

George Freeman: Local traffic authorities are best placed to set local speed limits based on local needs and priorities. The Government has no plans to consider making 20mph the default speed limit on urban and restricted roads in England. Setting national speed limits in Scotland and in Wales are matters for the Scottish and Welsh governments respectively. In November 2018, the Department published its comprehensive three-year study of the effect of 20 mph limits. The report is available online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/20-mph-speed-limits-on-roads. Some of the key findings from the research include that 20mph limits are supported by most residents and drivers, and that introducing a 20mph limit may reduce traffic speed by around 1 mph. Encouragingly, vehicles travelling at higher speeds before the introduction of the 20mph limit have reduced their speed more than those already travelling at lower speeds. However, there is not enough evidence to conclude that that there has been a significant change in collisions and casualties following the introduction of 20mph limits in residential areas.

Electric Scooters

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to include e-scooters in the cycle to work scheme.

George Freeman: The Department has no plans to include e-scooters in the Cycle to Work Scheme. The Cycle to Work Scheme is an employee tax-benefit scheme that enables employees to hire cycles and cycle safety equipment for active travel to work from their employer, or from a third party, in return for a deduction from their earnings via salary sacrifice. The Future of Mobility Regulatory Review is considering appropriate legislation and support framework for emerging micro-mobility vehicles including electric scooters.

Electric Scooters

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to include e-scooters in the Active Travel portfolio.

George Freeman: The Department has no plans to include e-scooters within the Active Travel portfolio. The Future of Mobility Regulatory Review is considering appropriate legislation framework for emerging micro-mobility vehicles including electric scooters. One of the principles of the Future of Mobility Urban Strategy is that cycling and walking should remain the best options for short journeys and we remain committed to that. The Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy, published on 19 March 2019 includes a Regulatory Review to address the challenges of ensuring our transport infrastructure and regulation are fit for the future. The Strategy can be found at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-mobility-urban-strategyThe Department will use the Regulatory Review to examine current legislation and determine from the evidence what is needed to make the necessary changes for a safe and healthy future. One strand of this will look at options for enabling micro-mobility devices, and a call for evidence will be issued in due course.

M42

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of breakdowns along the length of the M42 active traffic management pilot took place (a) in a live lane and (b) not in a live lane in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: We want our roads to be as safe as possible. That is why the Secretary of State asked the Department to carry out an evidence stocktake to gather the facts about the safety of smart motorways and make recommendations. The Department will present the findings of the stocktake shortly. While I would not want to pre-judge the results of that work, what I can say is that we will continue to prioritise improving safety – making conditions safer for everyone on our roads. The Roads Minister will write to you as soon as the stocktake is completed to answer your specific question.

Cross Country Rail Franchise

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to issue Arriva with a direct award contract on the Cross Country rail franchise.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department is considering options for the next Cross Country franchise. One such option is the issue of a further Direct Award to Arriva; subject to contract and successful negotiation. A further announcement is expected later this year.

Cycling and Walking

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2020 to Question 4757, whether he plans to publish the full findings of the research commissioned by his Department on the investment needed to deliver Government cycling and walking targets; and what additional investment his Department plans to allocate to meet those targets.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The research has been completed and the Department is planning to publish the technical report, which summarises the key evidence considered, alongside the first report on progress made towards delivering the aims and ambitions set out in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS). The levels of investment for cycling and walking in future years will be matters for the forthcoming Budget and Spending Review, further details of which will be announced in due course.

Department for Transport: Reviews

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the titles of the reviews that his Department is undertaking.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department currently has two formal reviews on matters of public policy or delivery. These are the Williams Rail Review, chaired by Keith Williams, and the independent review into the High Speed 2 (HS2) project, chaired by Doug Oakervee.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Eritrea: Human Rights

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, published on 8 June 2016, what assessment he has made of the effect on human rights of indefinite national service in that country.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK continues to call for reform of Eritrea’s use of a system of universal and compulsory national service. Roles are both military and civilian. Whilst the Government of Eritrea has justified this service on grounds of the security threat posed by Ethiopia we have yet to see a concrete proposal for reform following the July 2018 peace agreement. In July 2019, the Eritrean Government said that it would undertake a review of national service, but they gave no deadline for the review’s completion.At the 41st session of the Human Rights Council in July 2019, the UK renewed calls for Eritrea to reform the national service system, recognising that sustainable reform of national service needs to happen in tandem with an improved economic situation and job creation. We also raise human rights in Eritrea, both directly with the Government, as the former Minister for Africa did with the Eritrean President's senior adviser when she saw him in July 2019, and when our Ambassador in Asmara saw the same advisor in August 2019.

Eritrea: Ethiopia

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department's policy is on the Reconnecting Eritrea and Ethiopia through rehabilitation of the main arterial roads in Eritrea project which is supported by the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.

Andrew Stephenson: Following the historic agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia in July 2018, reconnecting the two countries and providing Ethiopia access to Eritrea’s ports is a priority. This will help to boost both countries’ economies, and generate job opportunities.The UK welcomes reconciliation between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Our support for the project under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, to reconnect Eritrea and Ethiopia through the rehabilitation of the main roads, was conditional on the EU working with the UN to monitor the treatment of national service workers implementing the project. We are continuing to monitor this. We note increased engagement from Eritrea with the EU on human rights issues since the inception of the project, including two Article 8 dialogues and the visit to Asmara of the EU Special Representative on Human Rights.The border between Eritrea and Ethiopia remains closed and we are concerned that both sides are yet to agree substantive arrangements on trade and border management given the impact this has on peace agreement. Like our partners in the EU we urge the two countries to ensure the agreement is fully implemented in order to bring stability and prosperity to their countries and the Horn of Africa region.

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Staff

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ensure safe staffing levels are maintained in the NHS.

Ms Nadine Dorries: It is the responsibility of each individual employer to ensure that they have sufficient numbers of staff in the right place at the right time. Those staffing decisions are best made on the ward in real time by experienced and qualified clinicians.Appropriate staffing levels are a core element of the Care Quality Commission’s registration regime and the law already requires hospitals to employ sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff at all times.We are considering the merit of any further measures on safe staffing levels.

Diabetes

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions there were with a primary diagnosis of diabetes in each year since 2010.

Jo Churchill: A count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of diabetes in the years 2010-11 to 2018-19 can be found in the following table. Financial yearFAEs2010-1181,5232011-1277,6672012-1367,2752013-1466,6922014-1567,3332015-1671,7382016-1775,0462017-1878,4402018-1980,734Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital

Nurses: Schools

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many registered nurses were employed in school nursing teams in each year since 2010.

Jo Churchill: The information is not held in the format requested.

General Practitioners: Training

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to increase the number GP training places; and how many additional places will be made available.

Jo Churchill: In 2019/20 Health Education England (HEE) advertised 3,250 general practitioner (GP) training posts and 3,540 doctors accepted a place.From 2020/21 HEE is planning on advertising 3,500 GP training posts.Discussions regarding the number of GP training places made available from 2020/21 will be confirmed in due course.

5G: Health Hazards

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that public health policy on the effects of the 5G network is based on up-to-date information; and what plans he has to review the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection on exposure to visible and infrared radiation.

Jo Churchill: Public Health England (PHE) advises the Department on all aspects of public health, including the effects of the 5G network.PHE scientific experts keep up-to-date with the latest published evidence and carry out their own research. PHE’s research is published in the academic literature and available to expert groups performing comprehensive evidence reviews. Links to recent reviews can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mobile-phone-base-stations-radio-waves-and-health/mobile-phone-base-stations-radio-waves-and-healthA revision of the current International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection guidelines on exposure to visible and infrared radiation is underway. PHE will consider the new guidelines when published and provide relevant advice.

Smoking: Public Buildings

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban smoking at the entrances of public buildings.

Jo Churchill: The Government has a track record of reducing the harm caused by tobacco. The United Kingdom is a world leader and has been rated the best in Europe on tobacco control by independent experts.The Health Act 2006 and the Smoke-free (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations 2006 made it illegal to smoke in public enclosed or substantially enclosed areas and workplaces. We support development and implementation of smoke-free policies locally in and around public premises.

Slaughterhouses: Animal Welfare

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many reports of mis-cutting he received for each category of animal in each year since 2008.

Jo Churchill: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) can provide the recorded data from 2010 onwards detailing the number of instances of mis-cutting which have occurred in the main categories of animals, in FSA approved slaughter premises in England and Wales. Each instance relates to an event that has been categorised as a serious or critical non-compliance on the welfare reporting systems used at that time. These figures do not reflect the number of animals involved. YearPeriodPoultryCattlePigsSheep and GoatsTotal2010April 2010 to March 20111810001812011April 2011 to March 20121540001542012April 2012 to March 20131800001802013April 2013 to March 201488000882014April 2014 to March 201593000932015April 2015 to March 201696000962016April 2016 to March 201742000422017April 2017 to March 201843000432018April 2018 to March 201931000312019April 2019 to December 20192500328 Grand Total933003936 As is evident in the data contained in the table the issue is almost exclusively related to poultry processing with an improving trend in recent years. This is due to improvements in business operator practices, technology and enforcement action being taken against operators who do not comply with the legal requirements.

Slaughterhouses: Animal Welfare

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many reports of mis-stunning before slaughter he has received for each category of animal in each year since 2008.

Jo Churchill: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) can provide recorded data from 2010 onwards detailing the number of instances of inaccurate/ineffective stunning which have occurred in the main categories of animals, in FSA approved slaughter premises in England and Wales. Each instance relates to an event that has been categorised as a serious or critical non-compliance on the welfare reporting systems used at that time. These figures do not reflect the number of animals involved.  Number of inaccurate/ineffective stuns recorded as serious/critical in England and Wales 2010-19 YearPeriodPoultryCattlePigsSheep and GoatsTotal2010April 2010 to March 201117949392011April 2011 to March 201261034232012April 2012 to March 20139826252013April 2013 to March 201461332242014April 2014 to March 2015112133382015April 2015 to March 201648103882016April 2016 to March 201722701302017April 2017 to March 2018415110302018April 2018 to March 201923446462019April 2019 to December 20190141621Grand Total612322150364  The figures in the table above for poultry only reflect the data associated with electrical stunning methods as the predominant method used in larger poultry premises is controlled atmosphere stunning (gas) method which is designed to kill rather than stun.

Sepsis

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of sepsis were recorded in (a) York, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England in (i) 2018 and (ii) 2019; and how many of those cases were fatal.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Information on the number of cases of sepsis is not available in the format requested.

NHS: Pensions

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many former NHS employees are in receipt of reduced pension entitlement as a result of deciding to end their careers working on a part-time basis.

Edward Argar: The following table shows the number of pensioner members of the NHS Pension Scheme who retired whilst working part-time, the number of members who worked part-time throughout their career, and the number of members who moved to part-time hours during the final five years prior to retirement.-Pensioner members who worked part-time on their last day of servicePensioner members who worked part-time hours throughout their careerPensioner members who were whole-time and only went part-time in final five years prior to last day of serviceNumber of members365,851183,51142,239Note: Approximately 40,000 pensioner members had pensions put into payment before the NHS Business Services Authority modernised their administration systems, so their former working pattern is unknown.All members of the final salary section of the 1995/2008 NHS pension scheme have their pension calculated using their full-time equivalent pay. A decision to work part-time hours means that the length of pensionable service built up is proportionately less compared to a full-time member. However it does not affect their final pensionable pay providing their whole-time equivalent pay figure remains the same. Members of the 2015 NHS Pension Scheme build up pensions using a Career Average Revalued Earnings method. This means that their pension is based on the actual pay earned in each year. A decision to work part-time does not affect the value of the pension accrued in earlier years.

Health Services and Social Services

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Care Act 2014 in integrating health and social care services.

Caroline Dinenage: The Care Act 2014 enshrined in law asset and strengths-based approaches to how we design and deliver care and support, with social workers and other professionals co-producing care and support to deliver better outcomes for individuals, communities and services.An evaluation of the Care Act was completed in 2019 and findings will be published in early 2020, including a summary of lessons learned for implementation of major policy and legislative changes.

Department of Health and Social Care: Reviews

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the titles of the reviews that his Department is undertaking.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not collected centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

General Practitioners: Rother Valley

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many new GPs in Rother Valley constituency have started work in the last five years.

Jo Churchill: The data is not available in the format requested.

General Practitioners: South Yorkshire

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for a GP appointment in (a) Rotherham Borough, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) Rother Valley in each of the last 12 months.

Jo Churchill: Data showing the time between booking an appointment with a general practice and the appointment taking place for practices in NHS Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) in the 12 months from January 2019 to December 2019 is presented in the attached table.NHS Digital publishes ‘Appointments in General Practice’. This is an experimental data collection which is still being refined and improved. NHS Digital is unable to provide appointments in general practice data at the level requested. Rotherham Borough, South Yorkshire and Rother Valley do not align perfectly to a CCG; it has therefore provided data NHS Rotherham CCG and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw STP.It should be noted that the ‘time from booking to appointment’ refers only to the time elapsed between the successful booking of an appointment and the appointment taking place. The data does not take into consideration that many patients will be appropriately booking ahead as part of the continuity of care they receive for long-term conditions.

General Practitioners: Rother Valley

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to maintain the level of out-of-hours GP cover in Rother Valley constituency.

Edward Argar: Evening and weekend general practice appointments are routinely available across the country to enable patients to find appointments at a time convenient to them.NHS Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) commissions a Rotherham wide general practitioner (GP) out of hours service from The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust. The service provides care for patients with an urgent primary care need out of core GP hours and is accessed via NHS 111. The CCG has also commissioned extended access hubs across Rotherham, the hubs are located in four sites across Rotherham to ensure equity of access and are open to all patients registered with a Rotherham GP. Plans are in place to allow NHS 111 to access these appointments also. In January, NHS Rotherham CCG commissioned a further hub on site at the Rotherham hospital. NHS Rotherham CCG has commissioned the Rotherham Health App, which enables patients to check their symptoms, order repeat medication, book appointments on-line, book direct into physio services, and into the primary care extended access hubs. Additionally, NHS England, is undertaking a national review of access to general practice services. The review’s main objective is to improve patient access both in hours and at evenings and weekends and reduce unwarranted variation in experience.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Reviews

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will publish the titles of the reviews that his Department is undertaking.

Andrew Stephenson: DFID routinely conducts both internal reviews on the operations of the department, and reviews and evaluations covering the performance and results of our development programmes. While not all of the department’s internal reviews are made public, every programme review is published on DevTracker. DFID plays an active part in relevant cross-Government reviews, including the Integrated Security, Defence and Foreign Policy Review which the Prime Minister will lead to reassess the nation’s place in the world, covering all aspects of international policy from defence to diplomacy and development.

Department for Education

Pupils: Endometriosis

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support pupils with endometriosis.

Nick Gibb: The Department wants to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe. We want to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. From September, we are making relationships education compulsory for all primary pupils, relationships and sex education compulsory for all secondary pupils and health education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.The statutory guidance sets out that as part of health education, primary and secondary pupils should be taught about menstrual wellbeing including key facts about the menstrual cycle. Schools have the flexibility to design the content of their curriculum in an age appropriate way to support their cohort of pupils. To help schools design their curriculum, we have signposted them to expert advice from Public Health England on reproductive health. This advice covers data, key facts and women’s experiences from menstruation to menopause. The statutory guidance can be accessed via the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/805781/Relationships_Education__Relationships_and_Sex_Education__RSE__and_Health_Education.pdf.The Government is also fully funding access to free period products in schools and colleges across England, for pupils who need them. The new scheme gives young people easy access to period products at school or college, breaking down stigma and ensuring that no young person’s education is disrupted by their period.This scheme is part of a wider programme of work, led by the cross-sector Period Poverty taskforce, with the vision to eliminate period poverty and shame around menstruation in the UK by 2025.

Special Educational Needs

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of requests for an Education, Health and Care Plan were completed by local authorities in England and Wales in 2019 within the 20 weeks guideline.

Michelle Donelan: In 2018, 60% of new education, health and care plans were issued within 20 weeks.The latest data available corresponds to the 2018 calendar year and covers England only. This is available in the National Statistics release ‘Statements of SEN and EHC plans’, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2019.As part of the cross government special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) review, we are reviewing the system to make sure it is delivering the best start in life for all children and young people with SEND.

Universities: Fire Regulations

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2020 to Question 5444, on Universities: Fire Regulations, whether his Department holds data on the number of university residential, teaching and research accommodation buildings over 18 metres in height that have (a) ACM cladding and (b) other forms of combustible cladding.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2020 to Question 5444, on Universities: Fire Regulations, whether his Department holds data on the number of university residential, teaching and research accommodation buildings below 18 metres in height that have (a) ACM cladding and (b) other forms of combustible cladding.

Chris Skidmore: The safety of students and staff across the education estate remains ministers' highest priority. Since the Grenfell fire, the department has worked closely with the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on fire safety. In line with that cross-government approach, we identified university-owned residential buildings over 18 metres with potentially dangerous ACM cladding. In the light of updated building safety guidance for owners of residential buildings published on 20 January by MHCLG, the department will gather any additional information required on residential buildings across the education estate, and will continue to work with building owners to ensure that any subsequent remediation work, if any, is undertaken.

Apprentices: Taxation

Gillian Keegan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister of 15 January 2020, Official Report column 1017, when he plans to make an announcement on changes to the apprenticeship levy.

Michelle Donelan: We continue to engage with employers on the working of the apprenticeship levy. We are committed to improving the apprenticeship programme to ensure it continues to deliver the skilled workforce that employers need. We will set out further detail on this in due course.

Respite Care: Children

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will write to local authorities to request that their commissioning of short breaks services use criteria that allow for the funding of emotional and practical support for parents of children with life-threatening or terminal illnesses.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that short break services commissioned by local authorities provide adequate (a) support and (b) flexibility for parents with a seriously ill child.

Michelle Donelan: We recognise that short breaks services for disabled children are vital and we very much recognise the need for this provision. Section 17(11) of the Children Act 1989 sets out the meaning of “disabled” and includes children who are “substantially and permanently handicapped by illness” which can include life threatening or terminal illnesses. The government made local authority provision of short breaks compulsory in 2011. In performing their duty under paragraph 6(1)(c) of Schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989, a local authority must provide, so far as is reasonably practicable, a range of services which is sufficient to assist carers to continue to provide care or to do so more effectively. The published guidance ‘Short Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children’ provides local authorities with information on their duties. This guidance is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/245580/Short_Breaks_for_Carers_of_Disabled_Children.pdf. Between 2011-2015 the government provided over £800 million to help local authorities implement the 2011 Short Breaks duties. Ongoing funding now rests with local authorities, and it is right that they have the freedom to make decisions based on the needs of their local area which allows them to prioritise the most vulnerable. This is deliberately flexible to enable local authorities to meet the needs of parents and carers. The government has confirmed an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care for every year of this parliament. This is in addition to the continuation of existing social care grants.

Holiday Activities and Food Research Fund

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's news story of 4 January 2020, Free meals and summer holiday activities for children, whether the Holiday Activities and Food scheme remains in a pilot phase.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Holiday Activities and Food scheme will operate in each year of the 2019 Parliament.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's news story of 4 January 2020, Free meals and summer holiday activities for children, what estimate he has made of the number of children that will benefit from that funding.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's news story of 4 January 2020, Free meals and summer holiday activities for children, what plans his Department has to extend the provision of free school holiday activities and meals to all school holidays.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of children living in poverty in Stockton-on-Tees who are unable to access the provision of free school holiday activities and food.

Michelle Donelan: This government has announced a programme of research and pilots to explore ways of supporting disadvantaged families during school holidays. Following the success of our previous programmes, we now understand more about how best to support disadvantaged families. We are targeting this support where it is needed during the 6-week summer holidays. We awarded £2 million of funding to 7 organisations to deliver free healthy food and activities to children and families in some of the most disadvantaged areas in the country during the 2018 summer holidays. The organisations informed us that with this money they were able to support around 280 clubs and reach around 18,000 children.In summer 2019 we invested £9 million in 11 local authority areas reaching around 50,000 children. The assessment process for bids for the 2020 summer programme remains ongoing and we will announce the outcome of the process shortly, alongside the areas that we will be working in and the number of children that we expect to benefit.We have also commissioned an independent evaluation of the 2019 programme, which will report on the number of disadvantaged eligible children who accessed the clubs across the country, including our work in the North East, and which will be published in 2020.Further funding of this programme after 2020 will be considered as part of the three-year Spending Review and we will set out our plans in due course.

Family Hubs: Capital Investment

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on capital funding for family hubs.

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will make it its policy to include family hubs as part of its (a) early years strategy, (b) Troubled Families programme and (c) children's services reform; and if he will make a statement.

Michelle Donelan: We are working with councils to champion family hubs. We have commissioned research from the Early Intervention Foundation to learn from effective local practice, which will be reported in spring 2020. We are exploring what other steps could support the family hub model. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has announced additional funding of up to £165 million to extend the Troubled Families Programme for an extra year. This will mean more people in need get access to the programme's early, practical and coordinated support to transform their lives for the better.

Apprentices: Degrees

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many degree apprenticeships were (a) started (b) completed in academic year 2018-19.

Michelle Donelan: In the 2018/19 academic year, there were 13,590 apprenticeship starts and 330 apprenticeship achievements on degree apprenticeships. The data source for this information is the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). Apprenticeship starts on degree apprenticeships, as well as additional breakdowns, are published at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/861550/201920_January_MonthlyAppStartsFwk.xlsx. Numbers are a count of the number of starts at any point during 2018/19. Learners starting or achieving more than one apprenticeship will appear more than once. Apprenticeship starts and achievements include all funded and unfunded learners reported on the ILR. Degree apprenticeships include apprenticeship standards on the Institute for Apprenticeships’ 'Search the Apprenticeship Standards' website with an Integrated Degree status of ‘Integrated Degree’ or ‘Non-Integrated Degree', which can be searched here: www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/.Some apprentices may be on an apprenticeship that does not mandate a degree but where the apprentice may achieve a degree as part of their employer’s particular apprenticeship programme. In these cases, we do not count these apprenticeships as a degree apprenticeship, as the degree is not mandatory. However, it does mean we may miss reporting some apprentices who achieved a degree. Apprenticeship starts and achievements statistics should not be used to measure percentage progress within a year as they are independent performance metrics. Typically, apprenticeships can take 2 years to complete.

Overseas Students: EEA Nationals

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of changes to (a) tuition fees and (b) student loans for EEA students after the UK has left the EU on the number of those students studying in the UK.

Chris Skidmore: EU students make an important contribution to the UK’s higher education sector, both financially and culturally. On 28 May 2019, we announced guarantees on student finance for EU nationals. EU nationals (and their family members) who start a course in England in the 2020-21 academic year or before will continue to be eligible for ‘home fee’ status and undergraduate and postgraduate student financial support from Student Finance England for the duration of their course, provided they meet the residency requirement. Any potential effects of changes to tuition fees and loans for European Economic Area students from the 2021-22 academic year will be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s future relationship with the EU. The government will continue to work towards the ambitious goals set out in our International Education Strategy, to host 600,000 international students per year by 2030, an increase of 30%.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on developing the Shared Prosperity Fund as a replacement to the European Regional Development Fund.

Michelle Donelan: The Department for Education has had no discussions with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on developing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) as a replacement to the European Regional Development Fund, as this does not relate to skills policy.However, the Department for Education is keen to continue to work with the Department for Work and Pensions and MHCLG on the arrangements for a successor programme to the European Social Fund (ESF) and to inform the development of the UKSPF.Skills activity funded by the ESF supports our aim of improving social mobility to ensure that people have access to the right skills and qualifications needed to enter sustained and meaningful employment or access other forms of training.

Sex and Relationship Education

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what resources his Department has provided to schools to ensure sufficient time in the school timetable for the teaching of high quality Relationships and Sex Education.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) funding and (b) resources required for the implementation of  statutory teaching of Relationships and Sex Education from September 2020.

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the £6 million fund for training on relationships and sex education has been allocated in 2019-20.

Nick Gibb: The Department wants to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe. We want to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. From September, we are making relationships education compulsory for all primary pupils, relationships and sex education (RSE) compulsory for all secondary pupils and health education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.Many schools are already teaching aspects of these subjects as part of their RSE curriculum. Schools have the flexibility to determine how to deliver the new content, in the context of a broad and balanced curriculum.The Department is investing in a central programme of support for the new subjects, which is planned to be available to all teachers from spring 2020. The programme will focus on tools that improve schools’ practice and will offer opportunities for teachers to improve subject knowledge, build confidence and share best practice, so schools can learn lessons from each other and decide how best to deliver the new subjects. This support will be accessed through a new online service, featuring innovative training materials, case studies and an implementation guide and support to access resources. There will also be training available for teachers through the existing teaching school regional networks.The Department is currently working with lead teachers, non-specialist teachers, schools and subject experts to develop this central programme of support to help ensure it meets the needs of schools and teachers.

Erasmus+ Programme

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people have travelled to (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland under the Erasmus+ programme in each year since 2015.

Chris Skidmore: The European Commission (EC) publishes statistics on Erasmus+. The latest available data is from 2018, published in January 2020. The EC records the number of incoming mobilities to the UK under the Erasmus+ programme, but this is not broken down by sub-national levels.The table below summarises the number of incoming higher education students, trainees and staff to the UK on the Erasmus+ programme from 2014/15 to 2017/18. The EC publishes more data on Erasmus+ in their statistical annexes, which is available from: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/about/statistics_en.Incoming HE students, trainees and staff to the UK on the Erasmus+ program  2014/152015/162016/172017/18Students & Trainees30,23531,36231,72731,877Staff3,4364,4064,7864,970Source: UK factsheet: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/about/factsheets_en.

Learning Disability

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support disabled students with visual stress.

Chris Skidmore: The Department is currently discussing with the Association of Dyslexia Specialists in Higher Education whether there is a case to provide Disabled Students’ Allowances for certain types of assistance for higher education students with a diagnosis of visual stress. We will announce further details in due course.

Voluntary Schools: Capital Investment

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the most recent round of funding granted through the voluntary-aided schools: capital scheme.

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to launch the second round of the voluntary-aided schools capital scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to change the (a) application and (b) approval process for the second round of funding for the voluntary-aided schools: capital scheme.

Nick Gibb: The first round of the voluntary-aided (VA) capital scheme ran from November 2018 to February 2019. The successful bid, from the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia (RCDEA) for a Catholic primary school in Peterborough, was announced in June 2019. Following receipt of in-principle agreement from the Department to provide capital funding, proposers are required to complete the statutory process to establish new VA schools. Peterborough City Council approved the statutory proposals from RCDEA on 27 January 2020.A feasibility study will now be carried out before the Department gives final agreement to provide funding. We will announce further information about round two of the scheme in due course, taking into account lessons from the first round.

Department for Education: Reviews

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the titles of the reviews that his Department is undertaking.

Chris Skidmore: At present, the Department for Education is undertaking reviews in the following areas.As set out in the manifesto, we are preparing to undertake a review of the care system which will consider how we support vulnerable children and young people in order to meet their needs and improve their outcomes.A cross-government review into support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, as announced in 2019.A review of Post-16 Qualifications at level 3 and below to ensure that every qualification has a distinct purpose, is high quality and supports progression to positive outcomes.The Headteachers’ Standards Review as announced by my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for School Standards in July last year to review the National Standards of Headteachers guidance last updated in 2004.In last year’s teacher recruitment and retention strategy, Ministers committed to carrying out a review of system leadership to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of teaching schools and National Leaders of Education.In addition, Dame Mary Ney’s review of college financial oversight and Dame Shirley Pearce’s review of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework recently concluded. We will publish the reports and the government’s responses in due course.

Apprentices: Taxation

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which employers have been allocated funding from the apprenticeship levy for the provision of the senior investment-commercial banking professional apprenticeship standard in each year since 2018; and how much funding was allocated to each of those employers.

Michelle Donelan: Holding answer received on 06 February 2020



Since the introduction of the levy in April 2017, there have been 196 starts on the senior investment-commercial banking professional apprenticeships standard (this standard was approved for delivery in May 2018).14 organisations are using the levy funds in their apprenticeship service accounts for this training. We are unable to provide names of specific organisations due to taxpayer confidentiality.This amounts to a full cost commitment of £3.5 million, which is based on learners completing the course. The estimated actual costs to date are £0.7 million (£0.3 million in the 2018-19 academic year and £0.4 million in the 2019-20 academic year to date).We have published the expenditure on apprenticeships training for the 2018-19 financial year (£1.7 billion). We will publish the expenditure for the 2019-20 financial year through the annual report and accounts which will be laid before Parliament in summer 2020.We are listening to the concerns of businesses about the apprenticeship levy and are committed to making sure the apprenticeship programme continues to provide opportunities for people of all backgrounds, whilst meeting the needs of employers of all sizes and delivering for theeconomy more broadly.

Ministry of Justice

Special Educational Needs: Tribunals

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) shortest and (b) longest wait for an appointment to be heard at a Special Education Needs Tribunal was in each of the last three years.

Chris Philp: The table below shows the (a) shortest wait and (b) longest wait.Year(a) shortest wait(b) longest wait ¹2018/1929 days552 days2017/1821 days771 days2016/17 ²24 days1,014 days³¹ The Tribunal lists all cases at approximately 12 - 14 weeks from the date of registration of the appeal into the Tribunal.² Years are broken down into school years from 1 September to 31 August the following year.³ This figure is the result of a Permission to Appeal being lodged. When this happens, timescales continue to tick and this until the appeal is resolved and this is reflected in the higher than usual waiting time.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many personal independence payment appeals were upheld at tribunal in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of successful personal independence payment appeal tribunals were upheld without the claimant or their representative attending.

Chris Philp: Information about the outcomes of Personal Independence Payment1 (PIP) appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics For the period July – September 2019, the latest period for which data are available, the proportion of successful PIP appeal tribunals upheld without the appellant or their representative attending was 37%2. Decisions on benefits can be overturned on appeal for a variety of reasons. For instance, further evidence, including oral testimony, may be provided at the hearing. HM Courts & Tribunals Service cannot comment on decisions made by independent tribunal judiciary. 1 PIP (New Claim Appeals) which replaces Disability Living Allowance was introduced on 8 April 2013, also includes PIP Claims (Reassessments).2 Appeals cleared at a tribunal hearing will include cases cleared at both oral (parties to the proceeding are afforded the opportunity to attend) hearings and paper cases, it may also include some withdrawals, does not include adjournments.Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data available.

Suicide: Veterans

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Office of the Chief Coroner on the recording of suicides among the veteran community.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the recording of suicides among the veteran community.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to record and publish statistics on veteran suicides.

Wendy Morton: Any suicide is a tragedy, and we take the welfare of our brave service men and women extremely seriously. For data on suicides amongst veterans to be of value, the information collected must be reliable, consistent and comprehensive. It is not possible to achieve this through coroners’ inquest conclusions for a number of practical and administrative reasons, including the parameters of the coroner’s role. Ministry of Justice officials have talked to colleagues in the Chief Coroner’s office about the issues to do with coroners recording whether the deceased had ever served in the armed forces. Ministers from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defence have on several occasions discussed the issue of to explore how we gather data on veterans in inquests. The Government recognises that personal information about victims of suicide can be used to improve understanding of “at risk” groups and, from that, to support better targeted interventions. More widely, the Government recognises the need to gather data on veterans in the criminal justice system. The Ministry of Justice will continue to work with the Ministry of Defence and other government departments to explore how we can further this objective.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Domestic Violence

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will ensure that the proposed domestic abuse Bill enables survivors of that abuse to access a safe and permanent home by extending automatic priority need for housing to that group.

Luke Hall: This Government believes it is vitally important that domestic abuse victims who are homeless, or are at risk of homelessness, are supported to find an accommodation solution that meets their needs and reflects their individual circumstances.In April 2018, the Homelessness Reduction Act came into force, which puts prevention at the heart of the local authorities’ response to homelessness, irrespective of whether they are a family or single person, what has put them at risk, or if they have a local connection to the area. This means that all victims of domestic abuse who are at risk of homelessness should be provided with an offer of support from their local authority to find appropriate accommodation.Under homelessness legislation a person who is pregnant, has dependent children, or is vulnerable as a result of having to leave accommodation due to domestic abuse already has priority need for accommodation. These duties, alongside new duties under the Domestic Abuse Bill, will ensure that all victims of domestic abuse are supported to find accommodation that meets their needs.

Councillors: Vetting

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many councils in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland require elected members to undergo a DBS check, or equivalent, before or during their term in office.

Luke Hall: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government holds no data on the number of councillors in England who have received a DBS check. It is a matter for the devolved administrations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland if they choose to collect and hold such data.There is currently no legal requirement on councillors to undergo a DBS check either to stand for office or after they are elected. The law specifies that a council is entitled but not required to undertake checks for Councillors who discharge Education and Social Service functions.

Trading Standards: Finance

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding his Department has allocated to each trading standards (a) authority and (b) agency in each of the last 10 years.

Luke Hall: Funding for trading standards authorities is one of many unringfenced elements of the Local Government Finance Settlement, which gives local authorities the flexibility to focus on their locally determined priorities. Details of funding allocations provided by the Local Government Finance Settlement for the last 10 years can be found on the gov.uk website.

Supported Housing: Construction

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing a requirement for assisted living spaces to be provided in new housing developments.

Luke Hall: The Government recognises the importance of meeting the housing needs of disabled, older and other vulnerable people including those with autism, and we keep under regular review how we can achieve this.   We have strengthened the revised National Planning Policy Framework so that local planning authorities are expected to have planning policies which identify the size, type and tenure of homes required for different groups in the community including disabled and older people, and we will shortly be consulting on improving accessibility standards for new homes.   We are also working with the social housing sector to boost new supply of much needed supported accommodation for disabled and older people.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Wansbeck

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of people from the Wansbeck constituency who served in the Armed Forces in each of the last ten years.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of people wounded whilst serving in the Armed Forces from the Wansbeck constituency in each of the last ten years.

Johnny Mercer: The information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Wansbeck

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of people killed whilst serving in the Armed Forces from the Wansbeck constituency in each of the last ten years.

Johnny Mercer: The table shows the number of Armed Forces personnel with a birth place in the Wansbeck constituency killed whilst serving in the Armed Forces in each of the last ten years. YearNumber of Servicepersons2010~201102012020130201402015020160201702018020190 *In line with departmental policy ~ represents 4 or fewer, values have been rounded to the nearest five.

Ministry of Defence: Reviews

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the titles of the reviews that his Department is undertaking.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Ministry of Defence constantly reviews its processes and structures to ensure effective operation across the organisation. Our cross-Government Integrated Security, Defence and Foreign Policy Review has already been announced by the Prime Minister. In addition to this, "Reserve Forces 2030: A Review of the Reserve Service" is also underway and is examining how Reserves can best contribute to Defence and wider HMG objectives by 2030.

Home Office

Suffolk Constabulary: Finance

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she will take to ensure equitable funding for Suffolk constabulary by changing the police funding formula.

Kit Malthouse: The Government is committed to supporting the police, including through the 20,000 additional officers announced in the Chancellor’s September 2019 statement.The funding formula will be considered in the context of the next Spending Review.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of (a) the number of outstanding applications to the Windrush Compensation Scheme and (b) the average waiting time for (i) a decision on an application to that scheme and (ii) payment to the claimant.

Kevin Foster: Outstanding applications are taken to mean those which have been submitted but which have not yet had a final decision.We will publish information on the total number of claims, claims paid and the overall amount paid out by the scheme shortly, as noted in the Home Secretary’s report to the Home Affairs Select Committee https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/update-to-the-hasc-on-windrush-22-october-2019. We do not intend to publish information on the time taken between a claim being submitted and a decision or a payment being made on that claim – all claims are different and the time taken will depend on many factors, including its complexity. We also often resolve part of a claim ahead of the rest of it if that part can be resolved more quickly, thereby speeding up the provision of compensation.

Immigration: EU Law

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cessation of international protection (Articles 11 and 17 Directive 2011/95/EU) decisions were made by the UK in 2019; and what the (a) nationality and (b) protection status was of each applicant subject to those decisions.

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many withdrawal of international protection (Article 14 and 19 Directive 2011/95/EU) decisions were made by the UK in 2019 and what the (a) nationality and (b) protection status was of each applicant subject to those decisions.

Victoria Atkins: Information regarding the number of cessations or withdrawals of international protection decisions made by the UK in 2019, and the nationality, and protection status of each applicant subject to those decisions, is not held centrally and to obtain it would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

Asylum

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average duration of the asylum procedure at first instance is in the UK.

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average duration of the asylum procedure at first instance in the UK is for (a) Syrian nationals, (b) Afghan nationals and (c) Iraqi nationals.

Victoria Atkins: Information regarding the average duration of the asylum procedure at first instance in the UK, and the average duration of the asylum procedure of those who are Syrian nationals, Afghan nationals and Iraqi nationals is not held centrally and to obtain it would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.However, information relating to the percentage of asylum applications processed within 6 months can be found on table ASY_10 of the Asylum Transparency data, published 22nd August 2019:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2019

Asylum: Children

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied asylum seeking children were detained in the UK in 2019.

Kevin Foster: Unaccompanied children are not detained for consideration of their asylum claim.On occasion, new information may come to light or new concerns raised, indicating a person who has been detained as an adult may be a child. In such circumstances we would seek to release them into the care of local authority children’s services at the earliest safe opportunity for an age assessment.Information on the number of occurrences of people leaving detention by nationality, age, sex, reason for leaving detention and length of detention can be found in table Det_D03 of the detention data tables, which can be found in the latest release of ‘Immigration Statistics’, available from GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/returns-and-detention-datasets. The figures do not distinguish between accompanied and unaccompanied children.

Home Office: Pay

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of staff in her Department would receive an increase in their salary in the event that their hourly pay rate was (a) £8.72, (b) £9.30 and (c) £10.

Victoria Atkins: All civil servants in the Home Office are paid at least the current National Living Wage rate of £8.21 per hour. The number of staff and the proportion of the Department receiving an increase in their salary in the event that their hourly rate was:a) £8.72 is 106 employees (0.32% of all employees)b) £9.30 is 764 (2.31% of all employees)c) £10.00 is 842 (2.55% of all employees)

Home Office: Pay

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the increase in the National Living wage announced by the Government on 31 December 2019, what discussions she is having with private sector companies undertaking facility management work for her Department to ensure that the cost of wage increases for their employees are not passed on to her Department.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office requires all of its suppliers to comply with the legal minimum standards of pay as set out in the Government’s National Living Wage legislation.

Immigration

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to consult with groups representing (a) medical research, (b) science and (c) the NHS in advance of reforms to the immigration system.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Office have conducted a large-scale engagement programme with businesses, communities and local governments on the future border and immigration system. More than 150 events reaching over 2,400 stakeholders have been held, including representatives from the medical, research and NHS sectors. Advisory Groups have also been established to consider specific aspects of the new system and Ministers continue to regularly engage with sector groups.

Freedom of Expression: Expenditure

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent from the public purse to promote freedom of speech in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, and (d) 2018.

Victoria Atkins: Freedom of speech is one of the fundamental values on which our society is based and in this country we have a long history of defending the right to free speech. We have not directly spent any public money on promoting free speech since 2015 and do not hold this information as a department.

Knives: Crime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce incidences of knife crime in (a) Romford constituency and (b) the UK.

Kit Malthouse: This Government is determined to turn the tide on knife crime, wherever it occurs. This is why we are recruiting 20,000 more police officers over the next three years and increasing sentences for violent criminals. We have made it easier for the police to use enhanced stop and search powers and we will introduce a new court order to make it easier for the police to stop and search those who have been convicted of knife crime. We will ensure that anyone charged with knife possession will appear before magistrates within days and we are also making £10 million available to the police to equip more officers with tasers. We have also announced a targeted £20 million to tackle county lines drug gangs, we have launched the £200 million Youth Endowment Fund to support children and young people most vulnerable from becoming involved in crime and violence, including reoffending, and put in place a landmark review into drug misuse. The first grant round of the Youth Endowment Fund took place in 2019-20. 23 successful projects located across England and Wales will share £17.1m over 2 years. Twelve projects are being delivered in London and the surrounding areas, including one in the Boroughs of Havering, Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge and Thurrock. Funding for policing is increasing by £1 billion this year, including council tax, and we have recently announced the amount of funding available to the policing system in 2020 to 2021 will increase by more than £1.1 billion. In addition, through the Serious Violence Fund we are providing £63.4 million to the 18 police forces worst affected by serious violence to pay for surge operational activity, such as increased patrols, which sees an additional £20.8 million for the Metropolitan Police. The Serious Violence Fund is also providing £1.6 million to help improve the quality of data on serious violence, particularly knife crime, to support planning and operations. In addition, we are providing £35 million through the Fund to support Violence Reduction Units, which form a key component of our action to build capacity in local areas to tackle serious violence. The Government will also change the law so that police, councils and health authorities are legally required to work together to prevent and tackle serious violence, and the Offensive Weapons Act introduces new laws which to give police extra powers to seize dangerous weapons and ensure knives are less likely to make their way onto the streets in the first place.

Abortion: Protest

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were arrested for praying in buffer zones around abortion clinics in 2018.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the number of arrests for notifiable offences, conducted by each police force in England and Wales, on an annual basis. Information on the number of arrests for praying in buffer zones around abortion clinics in 2018 is not held centrally, as it is not a notifiable offence.

Arrests: Hate Crime

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were arrested for hate speech in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, and (c) 2018.

Victoria Atkins: The term ‘hate speech’ does not have any legal meaning, nor does it relate to a criminal offence in the UK. For any example of hate speech to be treated as a hate crime it would need to meet the police and Crown Prosecution Service definition of a hate crime.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many calls the helpline for EU citizens applying for settled status received in the latest period for which figures are available.

Brandon Lewis: We do not currently publish data on calls into the Settlement Resolution Centre. We do ensure that resource allocated is maximised to allow our dedicated teams to answer and support as many callers as possible to assist them through the EU Settlement scheme process. Our current average answer time is 25 seconds. (January 2020)

Police: Costs

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average annual cost has been of (a) training, (b) employing, (c) equipping, (d) providing payroll and (e) any additional resources required for a full-time police officer to carry out their role in each of the last three years.

Kit Malthouse: The costs of an officer’s employment, training and resources are a matter for forces and Chief Constables and are reflective of local priorities.The Home Office does not hold information on the requested costs.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish guidance on the criteria for reasonable grounds for people missing the registration deadline for the EU Settlement Scheme.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of EU citizens that will miss the registration deadline for the EU Settlement Scheme with a reasonable excuse for doing so.

Brandon Lewis: The Government has made clear that, where a person eligible for leave under the EU Settlement Scheme has reasonable grounds for missing the application deadline of 30 June 2021, they will be given a further opportunity to apply.EU citizens can apply to the scheme, free of charge, simply by completing three key steps: proving their identity, showing that they live in the UK and declaring any criminal convictions. There is support available for any who need help in applying, including through the EU Settlement Resolution Centre, which is open seven days a week.We have not estimated the number of EU citizens who may miss the deadline to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme as our focus remains on ensuring everyone who is eligible applies before the deadline.

Stun Guns: Finance

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her 13 January 2020 announcement on funding for tasers, if she will ensure that (a) Hampshire constabulary and (b) other police forces that took early decisions to invest in tasers are not financially disadvantaged by those funding allocations.

Kit Malthouse: The £10 million announced by the Home Secretary is additional funding which will further support police forces to uplift the number of officers carrying taser by up to 10,000. My Department is working closely with the police on allocating funding.It is over two fininacial years, so the answer is no.

Crime Prevention: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timeframe is for her Department to approve bids from Police and Crime Commissioners to the Safer Streets Fund.

Kit Malthouse: The Safer Streets Fund will provide funding to areas of England and Wales that are disproportionately affected by acquisitive crimes, such as burglary and theft. The fund will provide areas with the resources to implement well evidenced crime prevention initiatives, such as street lighting and home security to help make areas safer and more secure. We expect to launch the fund shortly and will publish details of timescales for bid assessment and approval at launch.

Biometrics

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether data relating to members of the public obtained by the use of facial recognition technology is held by third parties.

Kit Malthouse: The police in England & Wales do not share personal data obtained through the use of live facial recognition technology with third parties.

Police: Finance

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the delayed Police Grant announcement for 2020-21, what steps she is taking to ensure Police and Crime Commissioners and Mayors are able to make precept announcements that comply with the Police Reform Act 2011.

Kit Malthouse: The 2020-21 police funding settlement – including proposed precept referendum principles – was laid before the House on [Wednesday 22 January], allowing Police and Crime Commissioners and mayors to comply with the Police Reform Act 2011.

Police: Finance

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish her Department's proposals for the level of Police Grant for each police force in England and Wales.

Kit Malthouse: The 2020-21 final Police Funding Settlement was laid before the House on [Wednesday 22 January] and includes details of Police Grant levels for each force in England and Wales.

Police: Training

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional police officers are undertaking initial training as part of the Government's campaign to recruit 20,000 police officers.

Kit Malthouse: In October 2019 Home Office confirmed officer allocations for every force in England and Wales in the first year of the uplift. The Home Office is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to support all forces deliver these allocations. The Home Office publishes the statistical series 'Police workforce, England and Wales' on a biannual basis. The next publication is scheduled for release on Thursday 30 January and will contain information on the number of officers in post as at 30 September 2019. Data on joiners and leavers are published annually, in the July release of the bulletin, which covers the situation as at 31 March. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-office-announces-first-wave-of-20000-police-officer-uplift

Counter-terrorism: Children

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any child has been referred to Prevent on the basis of their (a) involvement with Extinction Rebellion, (b) attendance at school strikes for climate and (c) attendance at any other protest.

Brandon Lewis: This information would be held by the Police, who are operationally independent of the Home Office. The Home Office does not hold data on individuals referred to Prevent.

Immigration: Children

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children were reunited with relatives in the UK under paragraph 319X of the Immigration Rules in (a) 2018 and (b) 2019.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to remove the application fee for family reunions under paragraph 319X of the Immigration Rules.

Victoria Atkins: Within the published visa tables, decisions on applications made under paragraph 319X of the Immigration Rules are included in the ‘Dep. joining or accompanying: Other’ category, which also includes applicants in other routes covered by this category. The latest figures available are up to July to September 2019 and can be found in the Visa table Vis_D02 of the managed migration detailed datasets, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/managed-migration-datasets.The Home Office sets visa, immigration and citizenship fees at a level that helps provide the resources necessary to operate the Border, Immigration and Citizenship (BIC) system. Fee-setting criteria is set out in Section 68(9) of the Immigration Act 2014, full details of which can be reviewed via the following link: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/22/section/68.

Police: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) identify and (b) support police officers with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Kit Malthouse: The Government takes the issue of police wellbeing very seriously and has invested in programmes which offer help directly to officers. This includes £7.5 million to fund the development of the National Police Wellbeing Service, which was launched in April 2019.The NPWS has developed evidence-based guidance, advice, tools and resources which can be accessed by forces, as well as individual officers and staff. There is an emphasis on prevention, for example by helping forces to identify mental health issues early through psychological screening, helping officers to access support earlier. This helps Chief Constables in their duty to ensure the wellbeing of all officers and staff, which includes supporting officers with specific welfare needs by signposting to relevant services and additional support.We have also set out a vision for a new Police Covenant, recognising the bravery and commitment of officers who work night and day to keep us safe. We plan to focus on physical protection for officers, their health and wellbeing and support for their families.

Migrant Workers: Pay

Mrs Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will adopt the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendation on reducing the salary threshold for skilled migrants seeking to reside in the UK.

Kevin Foster: Following the UK’s exit from the European Union and the end of free movement, we will deliver a new points-based immigration system that allows us to attract the brightest and best talent from around the world.The independent Migration Advisory Committee published its report on salary thresholds and the points-based system on the 28 January. We are considering its findings and recommendations carefully before taking any final decisions.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Reviews

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the titles of the reviews that his Department is undertaking.

Jeremy Quin: The Cabinet Office is currently undertaking reviews on: Data Handling Practices in the Cabinet Office; the Inter-Governmental Relations Review; and the Integrated, Defence, Security and Foreign Policy Review. Lord Dunlop's Review of UK Government Union Capability has concluded and the Government is carefully considering its recommendations.

Treasury

Tax Avoidance

Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will still be eligible for the 2019 Loan Charge after the Government has implemented the recommendations of Sir Amyas Morse's review of the Loan Charge.

Jesse Norman: Of the estimated 50,000 individuals affected by the loan charge, the Government currently estimates that about 11,000 will be taken out of the loan charge altogether. In addition, individuals who have settled or are settling their tax liability with HMRC will be out of scope of the charge. There is not yet a firm estimate of the number who will choose to settle and so be out of scope of the loan charge.

Insolvency

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on the effect on business lending of making HMRC a secondary preferential creditor in insolvencies.

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish an impact assessment on making HMRC a secondary preferential creditor in insolvencies.

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Office for Budget Responsibility on making HMRC a secondary preferential creditor in insolvencies.

Jesse Norman: The OBR assessed the Exchequer impact of the policy and the methodology behind it to feed into their economic forecast. A summary of responses to the consultation was published in February 2019, and can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/protecting-your-taxes-in-insolvency. Following the publication, the Government has continued to engage with a range of interested parties to discuss and explore further the issues raised.

Sixth Form Education: VAT

Emma Hardy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to sixth form colleges of VAT in the last five financial years; and whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to change the VAT status of sixth form colleges in line with the primary and secondary education sectors.

Jesse Norman: The details that HM Revenue and Customs collect from taxpayers on their VAT returns are not specific enough to identify costs for sixth form colleges relating to VAT. There are currently no plans to change the VAT treatment of sixth form colleges. However, the Government keeps all taxes under review, including VAT.

Tax Avoidance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department plans to take to prevent the promotion of Disguised Remuneration schemes in response to Sir Amyas Morse's review of the Loan Charge.

Jesse Norman: I refer the Honourable Member to my response of 30 January 2020 to parliamentary question UIN 8422 which is available at: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-01-27/8422/